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2.26 or 2.4 GHz / White plastic unibody enclosure

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My display is slowly fading to white. Why?

The display on this mac will either fire up fine then slowly fade to white. Or if you move the display around it will distort (lines) and fade to white. I have over 50 machines that are this model and it has happened on quite a few of them. I am tired of sending them to the Mac stores and would like to repair this myself. I have done a bit of other research and some indicate that it could be the lcd flex cable ribbon. What are your thoughts? Have you seen this before? Do you sell this part?

Thank you in advance for your help!

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Mine is getting white when brightness is more than 50% and when the laptop heats a little ?

In my country the replacement of LCD screen cost 160$

I just need to be sure that replacement will solve my issue

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Try turning off the "Automatically Adjust Brightness" under Displays in Systems Preferences. I have had this fix the problem in the past.

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Same is happening to me. I have just tried Julie's fix and hope it works. Though I don't believe that should be the fix. This computer is brand new. I will take back to Apple though. Because I'm still under warranty.

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Same happened to me. I did as Julie stated and it solved the problem.

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This is most likely a problem with the LCD panel. I've seen faulty panels exibit all kinds of strange behavior. Depending on factors like the temperature, LCD panels can die quicker. Here is a replacement part, and here is a guide to replace the LCD panel.

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody LCD Panel Image

Product

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody LCD Panel

$69.99

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Thanks so much for your help! I was hoping to avoid this and was really wishing it was a cheaper solution. But it is what it is.

Thanks again!

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Use your right finger to pull the screen right top edge towards you and use left finger and push the left top edge further from you.

Do not over pull or push.

Perform this a couple of times and it has solve my problem permanently.

If it does not work, do the other way around. Right edge further from you and left edge towards you.

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%#*@, it actually seems to have worked with my display! I had been experiencing this issue for a couple of years and it had really been getting worth during the past month. Could barely use my mac as a laptop anymore and even gently typing while sitting at a table would trigger the problem... Applying a force to the bottom right corner (pulling up) would solve temporarily the problem but your thing actually seems to have worked in a much more permanent way! I can open and close my macbook without a sign of this issue reappearing.

Thanks!

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Still working! :)

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Unbelievable! I have been battling this problem for a while. I just tried this and it works. I can work with my computer again!

thanks, thanks, thanks!

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Unbelievable! I've beat the H-E-double hockey sticks out of this thing and nothing has worked! IT people said monitors just go on these...A little torquing (not twerking) and it's fix! Thank you so much!

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Crazy....my girlfriends macbook pro has been doing this for 5 years, and she fixed it in 30 seconds after reading this. THANKS!!!

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the LCD is NOT FAULTY, it's the LVDS cable that needs replacement.

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Thanks Marcel. Sorry for the late reply ... holidays. Where can I get an LVDS cable?

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I had an end user have the exact same video problem that you are having. She found that if she flexed the top-left of the display housing, the problem would go away. Eventually it got worse and she had to hold that flex position to be able to use the laptop. I thought it had to be a bad connection. Possible the flex cable or just reseating the cable into the connector at the bottom of the display. I opened up the display assembly and with it powered up determined that it was not the flex cable but somewhere on the circuit board that is attached to the display panel. Pretty small components on there. Replacing the LCD panel solved the problem.

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Mine is getting white when brightness is more than 50% and when the laptop heats a little ?

In my country the replacement of LCD screen cost 160$

I just need to be sure that replacement will solve my issue

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In my experience, repairing laptops professionally, It's usually a loose/failing/cold-solder connection between the LCD panel and the circuit boards that run along two perpendicular sides, distributing the signal to the individual rows and columns of pixels. Doing warranty repair, the brand I worked with would generally send a complete display assembly that included hinges, the inverter board, and the enclosure/bezel

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I had a similar problem, and contacted someone who had repaired the same problem - they suggested that the LCD itself was the culprit, and, indeed, in my case, replacing the LCD was the solution. It WAS NOT the LVDS cable, though it can cause similar problems in some cases, as I understand it. Used to be the LVDS cables were hard to find (but not so bad anymore) so I was glad the LCD fixed it.

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Hi all, I have had the same problem on my mid 2009 macbook pro 13 for years, it comes and goes so I have never bothered to try replacing the screen until recently it got worse. After doing a lot of digging around I found that heat was the common factor. Funny as I had also noticed my fan was staying in slow speed ranges more and more often.

So I have now downloaded the Macs Fan Control app and set my fan manually at 4000rpm, from the moment I did this I have not had the problem occur again and my Macbook runs way cooler to the touch. It seems when they are older something inside is getting hot and the computer is not recognising this to turn the fan speed up.

I hope this can help you too and seeing as its free its worth trying before purchasing any hardware (I've read blogs where people had fitted new screens and its occurred again weeks later). I am very glad I did.

One other habit I've adopted is not placing the computer directly on my lap, I now use a book to isolate me as a heat source.

http://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-cont...

Why can't Apple just admit the fault and advise this?

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Because your problem is dust build up not a design failure.

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Take this software off and open the system and dust it out. Use a soft paint brush to help loosen the dust and use can'ed air to blow it out. Clean the fan's and the heat sink grills. Given the age of your system it's also a good idea to refresh the thermal paste on the heat sink. I would recommend you download this app so you can see the thermal sensors and the fan's so you can see what areas need more attention: Temperature Gauge Pro.

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I do all my own upgrades and repairs, I have stripped it several times over the years so dust is NOT an issue, although I didn't state that in my post I also didn't state that I have had the screen out, all the connecters off, thoroughly cleaned all the pins, inspected all the cables, tried various tensions on the screws, I could go on.

The thermal paste and dust build up are valid points and always make a difference in heat dissipation performance.

My point was to tell people that I have found something that works, that is easy and doesn't involve buying a new screen or stripping your mother board out and doing what I would consider a experts job.

After dismissing my opinion that there is a common fault can you share with us your experience on with this fault, you have obviously had this happen and thermal paste coupled with dust extraction solved it?

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Lack of maintenance as I had stated and you have appeared to have done, Banging/Crushing the display damaging the LCD, Age issues with the inverter and the CFL lamps (backlight), Worn out parts (i.e. hinges and display cable), Defective GPU which was addressed by Apple as an extended warranty (which has expired now).

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From your post and the reaction you got by forcing the fan I still think you have a thermal issue here. I would still recommend taking off the fan control software you installed and try to diagnose what is running hot. Temperature Gauge Pro can offer you the needed visualization on what the sensors are telling the SMC and how the SMC is controlling the fan and its feed back. But you can't run it with something else also in the act. Which is why you need to make sure to remove any fan or other monitoring software so they don't conflict. I would say 9 out of 10 times the heat sink is not conducting the heat effectively (needs refreshing) and/or the fan is not cooling the system effectively (needs cleaning or replacing) with your symptoms. I mostly deal with MacBook Pro's now (we have over 200 units in the field), I've also serviced many MacBooks over the years as well. The MacBook was a good strong Laptop in its day with very few equal to it. Just like a car computers do wear out.

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I have the same problem. I've found that pushing on various parts of the display housing fix it temporarily (like flexing the top left corner). It's gotten worse and worse and now is nearly unusable.

I'll probably order a new LCD but I'm in Northern Mozambique in Africa where both shipping and on-site repairs are very challenging.

Sad that it may be a widespread defect :(

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It's the LCD. It's not the LVDS cable.

My screen was freezing and fading to white. Pressure on the upper left would fix it temporarily. It got worse and worse.

I replaced the LCD, easy enough. It works great.

A bit of advice. Heat the cover glass very until it's very hot. The glue is in strips and doesn't melt easily. Take it slow and don't pry too much. The cover glass is very brittle, it will crack (mine did the first try).

Cheers!

Ed

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I'm repairing a friend's macbook (A1342) and it has the exact same problem - the display goes glitchy and slowly fads to white, works if you pinch the upper-left corner, used to be occasional but now it's constant. Since where you pinch is no where near the LVDS cable I figure it can't be that, as other people have said it's not. I'm going to try replacing just the LCD (if they decide to spring for it), I'll report back to this thread when I do.

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The LCD is defective. Im working on one now..and if you can position the screen or press areas to make it work, it has something to do with the internals of the LCD. If you can deal with it for now...hold off until the problem becomes unbearable. Then, you really have no choice!

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It helped for me to just loose two screws.

the two screws on the bottom left at step 6.

MacBook Unibody Model A1342 LCD Replacement

its not completely fixed, but works for me much better.

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Based on the answers given here, I have gone ahead and ordered a complete display assembly replacement because the screen has been becoming steadily more unbearable: needing to hold or adjust the screen most of the time just to do anything on the MacBook. And just when I think the thing will stay working and I stop touching everything in the hope of it continuing to work, there come's the exasperating fade-out to white!

Now here's the weird thing... The base had been getting airbubbles in it over some time, and then the rubber really began parting ways from the aluminium. This made the laptop somewhat unstable even when on a solid flat surface. So I have just replaced the base (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...).... and somewhat amazingly, the screen has miraculously recovered!! How is that possible? I thought the base was almost cosmetic!

By the way, much as I love iFixit, there screen replacements are very expensive. I made an offer to this seller that was really favourable http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130921985376 :-)

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I had the same problem on my a1342. Formatting (Mavericks) and installing Mountain Lion, my macbook doesn't have any problem! I don't know how, but it works good now!

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Same with me, only with Yosemite. Weird!

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Spoke too soon. Problem back :(

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Yep, had to replace lcd screen. Did so successfully with help from iFixit last month and MacBook is like new again

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Hi I am using LVDS type LCD display.when i am fixing the LCD i have found that red color and green colors are getting displayed in reverse on the screen.

What can i suspect,is because of connection problems in LVDS cable,whether connections got interchanged or it might be problem with the back light dimming control?

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Hi, my name is Julio de Alba, I had the problem with the top left corner, I push there and work but I try everything and nothing works....

Until I quit the screw on the right top corner and thats all, just push the display a little and works!

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I bought an used display assembly and even after I replaced the "defective" one I have the same issue. I suspect there is a problem in the connector on the motherboard. The metalic gold part is missing, I can still connect the cable but it is not really locked into place. Is it possible the connection there is the reason for the fading?

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Does anyone know what this is?

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I narrowed this down quite a bit further:

It has to do with a small piece of flat-flex cable, connecting the LCD-controller-board (which is right underneath the screen) to the LCD-panel itself. There are two so called “heat-bar-attachments” from that board to the LCD. In my case, the problem is within the outer left part of the left flat-flex cable. If I touch this part of the cable with anything, I can make the issue appear and disappear, depending on where I press on it.
I tried to get the flat-flex properly adhered again with some heat, but that did not change anything.

My guess now is, that there is a microscopic crack within on of the traces on the flat-flex, however, I could not see anything under a microscope.

Anyone else got any ideas? I will keep you updated, if I can find a solution.

But it’s certainly that cable (or in some cases maybe the other one on the right) causing this issue. It is a loose connection somewhere, that is depending on heat on mechanical forces, that’s why the issue can be temporarily fixed by not letting the device get to hot or by “bending” the loose connection back together. However, this will never be a real fix.

You could go for a new LCD (since that comes with a new controller-board), but I am hoping to find a more elegant solution.

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Christi will be eternally grateful.
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